Wil Wheaton, who played young prodigy Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” reacted to the loss of his costar Sir Patrick Stewart with a poignant two-word response: “Godspeed, Captain.”
Wheaton shared the reaction, which also included a single broken heart emoji, in an Instagram post that showed a throwback film picture of his young self smiling with Stewart.
Wil Wheaton’s Character Wesley Shared Many Moments With Captain Picard
Wheaton, also known for starring in Rob Reiner’s “Stand by Me,” joined the cast of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” as a bright-eyed 15-year-old, portraying the genius son of the ship’s doctor, Beverly Crusher.
Wheaton and Stewart’s characters shared a complicated dynamic, as Captain Picard was commanding Wesley’s father Jack when Jack died in the line of duty during an accident during an away mission.
Additionally, Picard had a long and complicated romantic dynamic with Wesley’s mother.
Although Picard came down sternly and sometimes unfairly a few times on the boy, he later became a mentor and fast-tracked Wesley’s Starfleet career by giving him a seat on the bridge.
Wil Wheaton Considers His ‘Star Trek’ Castmates His True Family
Wil Wheaton has been open about his painful childhood and broken relationship with his family, declaring in a 2022 blog post that he was “forced to be a child star.”
He wrote that before sharing his truth in an Access Hollywood interview, he correctly predicted his mother would refute his story when the outlet said they needed to satisfy fair journalistic practices by getting a comment from his mom. “I told them I understood and respected their journalistic integrity. I also told them that my parents would lie, that my mom would say ‘I’m shocked! I had no idea!’ and that she’d claim we were such a close family it’s all just a huge surprise. Also she would say something about how angry I am.”
He said his mother, former actress Debbie O’Connor-Wheaton, continues to propagate “the big lie that she didn’t force me to become a child actor when I was seven, that it was all my idea.”
He recalled the feeling that his mom had tricked him into his first audition, saying, “it was actually her audition.” He explained, “She brought me along to be her scene partner. I CLEARLY recall feeling like I wasn’t supposed to be there, and that she was springing me on casting at the last minute. ‘This is my son and we can do it together’ or something like that.”
In an interview on Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast, Wheaton implied he never felt love from his biological parents, saying “Twice in my life, I have felt what I imagine it is like when your parents love you and approve of you.” He named one of those times as when costar Jonathan Frakes expressed pride in Wheaton’s “Star Trek” aftershow “The Ready Room,” and the other was when LeVar Burton offered to help with the podcast. “Thank you for being there for me when you didn’t know that you were,” he says he told Burton, reflecting on their long history of friendship.
See Wil Wheaton’s 2-Word Reaction to the Loss of Patrick Stewart